White Swan

The White Swan was an interesting build for me, having never built a ship out of bricks before. It ended up being fun, with a few moments that took me out of my comfort zone. This set comes courtesy of JMBricklayer, and is available here:

https://www.jmbricklayer.com/product/the-white-swan-ship-40104/

The box is compact despite the parts count. The printing is a little off, but that’s not why we’re here, is it?

Inside you get bags of parts, a sticker sheet, and instructions. The instructions were clear and easy to follow.

The stickers were actually like dry-rub decals from model kits. The decal is placed on the part, rubbed down, and then the clear cover is removed, leaving a decal that looks like it was printed on. It’s a fantastic process.

What I didn’t like was all of the chains – you have to assemble each chain by hand, one link at a time. It’s worth doing, but my hands were very tired afterward.

The end result is a majestic model over 2 feet long!

Here are those chains I mentioned earlier. The black chains are used for the anchor sections, and the gold chains are used to support the lifeboats.

The rear has rudder and propeller detail.

The two cabin sections are removable to reveal little rooms inside the ship.

Underneath the ship are wheels so it can roll along…

Some of the white bricks on the side had printing on them already, but they were not consistent – If you plan them out in advance you can sort the pieces so they match heights and this won’t be obvious.

The ropes that tie all the masts together were a bit of a challenge as well. You are supposed to use the friction of two pieces buttoning together to hold the strings in place. Some of the sails are a bit wrinkly due to being shipped flat so if you build this you may want to iron them flat ahead of assembly.

The display stand comes with a nameplate for the White Swan, but I got a custom brick with the CollectionDX logo printed on it instead. Find out how to get your own custom printed bricks here:

https://www.jmbricklayer.com/product-category/custom-printing/

If you want to add the White Swan to your collection you can get yours here:

https://www.jmbricklayer.com/product/the-white-swan-ship-40104/